Lake George Alumni & Concerned Citizens Launch a Task Force to Explore Construction Projects completed at the High School in the 80s and 90s and possible links to abnormally high Health Issues.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y., May 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of former students, faculty, family and concerned citizens of Lake George have launched a Task Force that will investigate and deliver a report related to construction projects that occurred at the Lake George High School during the last two decades. The group was initially gathered from a social media site and has grown to approximately 2,500 members. The mission statement of the Task Force is: To determine if best practices were followed during the various and complex construction projects the school and its contractors conducted to remove known carcinogens and hazardous material allegedly during the late 1980's and early 1990's. 

Over the past few decades the Lake George Community has grown increasingly concerned about the alarming number of health issues, including perceived abnormally high cancer rates and death rates, among past students, faculty and staff members of the Lake George High School. The community is now well aware that there were a number of perceived safety concerns related to the original presence of asbestos, lead and radon gas in the building, and the various construction projects the school conducted to mitigate and remove known carcinogens. The school's attempts to remove the hazardous material is estimated to have spanned the late 1980's and 1990's. During that time period it's alleged the workers were actively removing the dangerous substances during normal business hours when faculty, staff and students were working and learning in a perceived unsafe and unacceptable proximity. Since information has come to light about the possibility of questionable construction practices and fraudulent projects perpetrated by contractors at other schools in the area, the community has decided to launch a task force in order to better understand the construction practices and to ensure that best practices were followed at all times. The Task Force has no evidence that any School District or entity knowingly participated in fraudulent construction practices but were possibly victims of fraudulent acts perpetrated by the contractors themselves. The community envisions a time when there is no more reason for a task force, when interested parties and stakeholders have reached a satisfying conclusion to their efforts. This will only come when transparency, clarity and answers replace obscurity, confusion and questions. 

The Task Force Chairman, John D. Conway, stated, "We are extremely pleased with the initial progress of the group in launching and appointing its leadership. I am encouraged by the willingness of both The Lake George School District through their Attorney and the Town of Lake George to work with the group in order to achieve the goals of the Task Force. It's my opinion that the Lake George School District is committed to protecting the health and safety of its students, staff, and community and always has been but I've been appointed to lead this Task Force to get answers. My opinion doesn't matter only the facts matter and that's what the group will present at the end of its finding; the facts."

Joanne Gavin, an appointed member of the Task Force and widow of a former faculty member stated, "It's an honor and privilege to serve the community in this manner and to seek out the facts that may provide answers to so many unresolved questions related to the building my husband worked in for over 25 years. I pledge to conduct our mission with the utmost integrity as my husband did while educating so many students of the Lake George community."

About the Task Force

The Task Force is a group of 10 appointed members who have been appointed by a larger group of approximately 2,500 former students, faculty, community members of Lake George. The Task Force will strive to attain knowledge about the past in order to understand the present. Without the facts, the group recognizes the difficulty the community will have striving for a sustained and flourishing future. The Task Force feels that in order to understand the complex health issues potentially involved it is vital to inquire into the school's actions to remove known carcinogens in the closing two decades of the twentieth century. Full knowledge of these projects is vital to our understanding of the current health of our community. Further we see knowledge about the uncertainties of the past as essential to any possibility of understanding and managing our community's health going forward. 

Task Force Seeking Volunteers

The Task Force is seeking community members along with the following professionals to volunteer: Building Management; Construction; Asbestos Mitigation and Testing; Legal; Insurance; Janitorial / Custodial and School Administrator.    

Should you be interested, Please contact John Conway @ [email protected]

Contact:
John D. Conway
Task Force Chairman
[email protected] 
720-363-5638 / Twitter: @conwayparking

SOURCE Lake George Community Task Force